The Pokémon franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and its first Pokémon Presents showcase of the year, held on Pokémon Day, took the chance to make waves…quite literally. Now that Pokémon Legends: Z-A is out in the wild, The Pokémon Company has unveiled Pokémon Winds and Waves as its next mainline title, set to kick off the 10th generation.
The announcement trailer features a brand-new region with multiple islands in a vast ocean, and a glimpse of an open-world hat that will seemingly introduce underwater exploration. As with each new generation of games, the trio of starter Pokémon was also revealed: Browt, a grass-type bird; Pombon, a fire-type pomeranian; and Gecqua, a water-type, doe-eyed gecko.
Additionally, players can expect to meet two special Pikachu in a tropical getup — a floral shirt-wearing male Pikachu with sunglasses, and its female counterpart (differentiated by a heart-shaped tail) donning a cap and dress. While it’s unclear whether both versions will appear in both entries, the starting outfits for the male and female trainers will differ depending on the game chosen.
Pokémon Winds and Waves, developed yet again by Game Freak, will come to the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2027. The Pokémon Presents closer is far from the only highlight, however, with plenty of updates announced for existing and already announced titles, as well as the addition of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness to the GameCube Classics catalogue later this March.
Here’s a recap of every announcement unveiled during the livestream:
- PokémonXP, a brand-new fan convention to be held in San Francisco later this year, alongside the Pokémon World Championships 2026, where trainers from around the globe can celebrate their love of the franchise.
- The Game Boy Jukebox, modelled after the original Game Boy System, comes with 45 different cartridges that play original music from Pokémon Red and Blue.
- A new 30th anniversary set for the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game, featuring Mew and Mewtwo.
- A three-day event, taking place from 7 to 9 March, will bring “a huge range” of critters to Pokémon Go, after Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos Global completes its run from 28 February to 1 March.
- Pokémon Masters EX welcomes Pokémon Blue and Red protagonist, Red, in his classic look, as part of a new Sync Pair featuring the cap-wearing trainer and Pikachu.
- A round-up of all starter Pokémon from each region for Pokémon Café Remix, starting with the Kanto trio on 28 February, alongside new critters, chef outfits, and café customisation decorations.
- New Pokémon Sleep missions featuring Mew
- The arrival of Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno to MOBA spin-off Pokémon Unite, plus Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligatr in the future.
- Confirmed Pokémon Home support for the standalone Switch release of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
- The launch of Pokémon TCG Pocket‘s new themed Booster Pack, titled “Paldean Wonders”, and special 30th anniversary rewards.
- Pokémon Champions, which allows players to battle one another in an arena, narrows down its release to April 2026 for the Switch, with Android and iOS versions to follow.
- A new mystery gift leading to Mega Garchomp Z for players who own the Pokémon Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC
- New Pokémon encounters, cooking, town-building and multiplayer features for Pokémon Pokopia, releasing for the Nintendo Switch 2 on 5 March.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
